I hesitated this morning on my way sending my daughter to school. I was thinking of going for a run but I have to conduct a training this afternoon. Maybe tomorrow, what if ...............or should I ????? Thoughts like this wandered through my mind without much action.

So, upon reaching home, I quickly grab my swimming attire and in less than 10 minutes, I am already dipped into the pool and heading for a 20 laps swim. The water was not as cold as I thought. The swim was also smoother than I feared (somedays I struggled to complete). Somehow, I would compare running with swimming, both exercises that I like but tend to give more time to running. Reason? Well, running on the road provides me with the scenery (although it is the same after a while) and thus I like to run different routes to stimulate my mind. Swimming in the pool , lap after lap , to me require more discipline and effort. Beside stopping at the side to adjust my goggles, if necessary, I am basically going round and round , lap after lap till I am done. The inner conversation I had when I am swimming differs from when I am on the road running. Each traffic light, I had to stop for a minute or two, allowing me to catch my breath and pause.

Swimming, I do not have the luxury.

If I continue to stay put and think of should I go run or swim this morning at the doorstep, I probably would end up staying at home. It so happened I am now reading Results by Jamie Smart , an interesting book. Action provides direct feedback while theories in the head remain where it is. Hmm, I have build a habit for that in my running. I could get out of the house automatically when days where I feel lethargic and do not want to exercise. I guess I have to switch running to swimming as well.

One compelling reason for me to take action or motivates me was my goal - to attend my kids and their children wedding, a tall order for most people. In order to achieve that, I need to ensure my body is at its best, both physically and mentally. I allow the goal to come alive in my present thought, imagine what it would be like when that day becomes today. What would I be wearing? What would I say when asked to give a speech? Who is around me at that time?

According to NG, it is loyalty to the unseen that makes our reality. That means staying on the journey, no matter what happens and that requires a lot of discipline and resilience. Assumption (living to age 120) when persisted (loyal and keep on going on) will harden into facts (the reality).

I spent more than 2 hours to migrate some of my young plants that have been outgrowing its little container into bigger pots today. I thought it would be easy but when I get my hands dirty, I realised there is much more work than I thought. I discovered the bigger the plant, the longer the roots and the harder it is to do the migration for fear of hurting the roots.

Then I thought to myself, isn't some of my bad habits like procrastination the same as well? The longer I took to do the medial task, the more reluctant and unmotivated I want to perform it. Habits are like plants with roots growing, the longer it takes to form, the deeper the roots grow and the harder it is to change it. I also discovered some plants like papaya which I had previously done a few migration died after the shift. Could it be it had grown acccustomed to its usual, comfortable small pot and once moved to a bigger and better place, it has difficulties to adapt?

They say humans are resistant to change and once we are settled down, got comfortable we want to maintain it for as long as possible. I think there is some element of truth in it. I am glad I took the time , an activity that was pretty much unplanned for.

I hope the new pot will give these young plants bigger space to grow and blossom their flowers, if any and they will grow to be strong and healthy. I pray that it would be free from pests attack and butterflies would be attracted to come. It is a good form of moderate exercise to start the day. Try it.